Can't You Feel the Recovery?

Today's headlines...

Home price drop is largest in 35 years
WASHINGTON - The median price of a new home plunged in September by the largest amount in more than 35 years, even as the pace of sales rebounded for a second month.

The Commerce Department reported that the median price for a new home sold in September was $217,100, a drop of 9.7 percent from September 2005. It was the lowest median price for a new home since September 2004 and the sharpest year-over-year decline since December 1970. The weakness in new home prices was even sharper than a 2.5 percent fall in the price of existing homes last month, which had been the biggest drop on record.

Jobless, wageless, now your over-mortgaged home is worth less. Exactly who is the "great economic recovery" working for?

Oh, thats right...

Exxon posts $10.49B profit; shares up
DALLAS - Oil industry behemoth Exxon Mobil's earnings rose to $10.49 billion in the third quarter, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. Its shares briefly rose to a 52-week high.

The report Thursday comes as high crude prices this year have fueled record profits in the oil industry, triggering an outcry from consumers who were being asked to pay about $3 a gallon for gasoline in early August.

The largest quarterly profit ever was Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $10.71 billion profit in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The company may beat that next quarter, said Howard Silverblatt Standard & Poor's Senior Index Analyst. "Then in all likelihood they will be at that $40 billion mark for the year."

That would put the company on track for the highest annual profit ever by a U.S. company. Exxon Mobil holds that record with a 2005 profit of $36.1 billion.

BONUS CONSPIRACY THEORY: I disagree with that projection by the way. They will exceed the $36.1 billion record, but they will fall short of $10 billion for the 4th quarter and $40 billion for the year. Why? Because I really think they've agreed to take a hit for the GOP this fall, and lower gas prices. ExxonMobil has maintained it's $10 billion margin for over a year now, if the next quarter comes in "short" at $8 or $9 billion, still huge, I think it proves my point.